A Year of Junk Journaling: 52 creative prompts to transform scraps of your life into art

by Martina Calvi

The number one rule of junk journaling? There are no rules.Author and memory-keeper Martina Calvi invites you to embrace a year of playful, mindful creativity with 52 inspiring junk journaling prompts. Whether you're discovering junk journaling for the first time or already treasure a growing collection of paper scraps, stickers and ephemera, you'll learn to preserve memories, tell your story and transform everyday treasures into pages that are uniquely yours.Martina's simple Collect, Reflect, Create approach encourages you COLLECT photographs, tickets, packaging, postcards and little keepsakes that capture life's special momentsREFLECT with mindful prompts that help you slow down, celebrate everyday memories and express yourself creativelyCREATE playful junk journal pages using collage, paper craft and mixed-media techniques – no perfection required
Inside you'll discover 52 inspiring prompts to experiment with color, texture and composition, celebrate favorite memories, finally use your treasured stash of stickers and paper scraps, and build a joyful creative habit one page at a time.Perfect for junk journalers, scrapbookers, memory collectors and budding artists, A Year of Junk Journaling will help you embrace your personal style and discover that the most meaningful stories are often told through the little things we choose to keep.

Genres: Nonfiction, Crafts, Art

176 pages, Hardcover

Published October 14, 2025

Reviews

[Val · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lovely 🥰

[Nelda · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a gorgeously designed book showing colorful (or even monochrome) examples from the author's own prompt responses. Some of her journal prompts were maybe a bit cheesy or pointless to me, but maybe they wouldn't be to someone else. Some were quite interesting and made you think, "Now, what would MY response be here?" For example, the life timeline, bookshelf, movie reels, and family traditions are thought-provoking ideas that make you want to reflect, respond, and tactically hold memories in place with photos, trim, recipe cards, crafted envelopes, glue, washi tape, and a hole punch.

Each 2 to 4 page spread begins with a 2 or 3 sentence explanation of the journaling prompt, ideas of what to collect, a reflection paragraph, and ideas for creation. At the end of the page, she writes a sentence or two about her own example response. And the whole page is nicely arranged in an easy-to-read format. Then, of course, there is the page (sometimes 3!) of example junk journaling. It's a fun book for the "professional" junk journaler or for the newbie who might just enjoy learning about the process and pouring over someone else's creative design!

[Melinda Wingate · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is definitely a book that I would want to own so I could mark things off and refer back to it throughout the year. As it is, I had to borrow it from the library...lol. This was so enjoyable! I like the idea of junk journaling, but it always felt overwhelming to get started because I am a perfectionist and always afraid of doing it wrong. Good news! There is no wrong way to do it! And this book explains all of that. It also gives some really good prompts to get started, as well as ideas for different types of materials to use or ways to attach things. I definitely thing that this book is a good place to start for anyone wanting to try out a different way to collect memories.

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

Received this at the junk journal party my friend had in honor of this book coming out. I loved Martina's "Art of Memory Collecting" book and was thrilled to see she had a new book coming out. I have already started doing a few different prompts in the book, but I plan to do them all throughout the next year!

[Melki · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is less how-to than more look-what-I-did-and-be-inspired.
I fail to see how gluing a bunch of candy wrappers to a scrapbook page helps you remember the good times.

That's what cavities are for . . .

[Lore H · Rating 4 out of 5]

lovely book of bright ideas. brilliant cover design cute and layout. for the memory collector in all of us. I want to go back & read her first book. the find and seek activity for the hidden gems at the end was a nice touch. interested to look into the books in her favorites spread for inspiration

[Kari Zephyr · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved the set up of the book and the simplicity of the book. I really like how it sparked different ideas and different themes that I could do junk journaling and not just journaling but to incorporate into other arts and craft ideas.

[Marianne Long · Rating 5 out of 5]

The first book I 've seen on this one this topic

This book is a real pleasure to spend time with. It is crammed with ideas and suggestions, exactly the kind of resource you would like to have when you are starting new creative work. Recommended with 5 🌟 stars.

[Jeannie Doege · Rating 1 out of 5]

Sorry to say I wouldn’t recommend

Unless you are really interested in the JUNK of junk journaling. No real technique here, jut some ideas around junk that you could collect and glue down to a sheet of paper.

[Zoey]

so so cutie

[Hope Anderson (HopelessBookAddict) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this!

[Margret · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good ideas.

[Cali Beverlyann · Rating 3 out of 5]

got some cutie journal ideas!! the other book was better imo

[Karrie Stewart · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some fun ideas!

[jngarz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a fun edition to add to my crafting books. So excited to utilize some of the prompts that were hi-lighted!

[Emily Serrano · Rating 3 out of 5]

What a fun concept!

[Holly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute ideas

[Cindy · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great book for ideas to make journals

[Suzanne Dix · Rating 3 out of 5]

Many fun ideas.

[Cassie · Rating 1 out of 5]

Very repetitive & the ideas aren’t particularly innovative. Eg. Stick a photo for birthday, dreams, Christmas … etc is just saying the same thing over & over again.

[Nicole · Rating 5 out of 5]

https://www.goodreads.com/review/edit...#

[(≧∀≦) · Rating 4 out of 5]

super cute and gave me inspo i've wanted to do more junk journaling 🥹🥹

[Miriam Valentina · Rating 5 out of 5]

I recommend this to everyone who whats to get into journaling! Martina is one of my favorite creators 🥰

[Relyn · Rating 2 out of 5]

Enh. I was hoping for a lot of inspiration. Instead I got How Tos written for someone with no confidence, experience, or go-get-'em. Not bad, just not for me.

[Amber · Rating 5 out of 5]

SO COOL

[Jennifer Morefield · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am a huge junk journaling fan and loved the thoughts and ideas in this book. I will now use it as a reference book.

[Lena · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really thought this book was a treat, as a fellow journal-keeper. The prompts are detailed, varied, and accessible, and the full-color spreads of Calvi's own journal pages are lovely. I'd recommend this for:
1) people who used to have Rookie Mag set as their web browser homepage in the 2010s-- the girlish, glittery, mixed media vibe is the same. God, I miss the Rookie days. I particularly looked forward to their printable collage kits, and this book scratches that same inspiration itch.
2) people who amass craft supplies and personal mementos but are too squeamish about using them "correctly" to actually make anything. Calvi presents several art prompts that even the most skittish perfectionist could follow without anxiety, such as collecting teabag tags to arrange into a grid, or filling a page with strips of patterned washi tape. The emphasis is on mark-making and experimentation in general rather than the final result (though I'm always fond of the final results in all their whimsical chaos anyway).

A few of the prompts seemed a bit too similar to one another, but that's a really minor complaint-- I think anyone would have a hard time coming up with 52 totally discrete concepts. I have been junk journaling since 2013 and there were a few prompts in here that were new for me, so I'm pleasantly surprised to have some fresh ideas to try out sometime. I'm also just a big snoop, so I loved having the opportunity to see someone else's journal pages. :-)

[Paramitha · Rating 4 out of 5]

my definition of junk journaling and martina's are different but i already recreated one of the prompt in this book and see myself recreate some more of its prompts very soon. overall it was a sweet and inspiring read.

[Melissa · Rating 3.5 out of 5]

A YEAR OF JUNK JOURNALING by Martina Calvi contains 52 very doable prompts and spreads of Calvi’s personal junk journal. The tutorials and suggestions would be helpful for anyone new to #junkjournaling and a source of inspiration to anyone interested in this craft. My only criticism is with the font; on each page, there’s a little note about why the spread is meaningful to the author or what inspired it or a memory it conjured up. Problem is, the type is minuscule and in script, making it incredibly difficult to read. Otherwise, I’d recommend this, especially if you’re new to or curious about junk journaling.